


Bus 19

by Youonlygetone



Category: Black Lightning (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Or Is It?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 21:34:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16049000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Youonlygetone/pseuds/Youonlygetone
Summary: What do you do when you’re confronted with your ex best friend whom just happens to be the woman you love.





	Bus 19

**Author's Note:**

> The longest fic I’ve ever written. All mistakes are my own.

Everyday Grace take this bus. Bus 19. Come rain, snow or shine you can find her standing here waiting for this bus. She could be reading a book, listening to music or a combination of both, it doesn’t really matter. The one thing she could always count on is consistency. The bus always came at 3:30 everyday. And she would be at the stop by 3:15 to make sure she didn’t miss it. So imagine her surprise when it’s 3:30 and the bus isn’t here. She has been riding Bus 19 for a little over a year now and not once has it ever been late. Which is weird because from what she has heard from numerous people is that public transportation is late most of the time. Okay maybe sometimes in other cases, but this one wasn’t. She doesn’t think anything of it and she waits. Maybe the bus is just running late. She can understand that life happens and there are some things that are out of our control. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do except to wait. 

Another twenty minutes had passed and it’s still nowhere in sight. And of course this just so happens to be one of those days that she forgets her umbrella and it’s starts pouring raining. The insane thing about it is, not too long ago there was sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. Blue skies all around. It amazes her how everything can change so quickly. She uses the bag that she’s carrying to shield herself from the torrential rain, but the rain is cutting right through it. It’s another long ten minutes in the cold, and getting soaked and chilled to the bone that she hears a chime of a bell going off as a door is being opened behind her. Grace turns around to look at the person opening the door and it’s none other than Anissa Pierce. Her ex best friend. Of course she doesn’t know she’s her ex best friend, but that’s beside the point. Once she registers it’s her, Grace’s eyes fill with rage, her hands are clenched tightly into fists on the bag above her head and her whole body starts to shake. Whether it be because of the cold or her anger, she can’t really tell, all she knows is that she’s looking at the woman who ruined her life. The very reason she has to take this bus everyday in the first place and she hates her guts because of it. Caught up in her anger she doesn’t realize Anissa is talking to her until she calls out her name “Grace? Did you hear me?” Anissa asked concerned. 

“No. What did you say?” Grace says between the clattering of her teeth. 

“I said it’s pouring out here and you should come inside where it’s warm.” 

Grace shuffles her feet and kicks a lone rock on the sidewalk “I’m sure the bus will be here any minute. I’m okay, I can just wait here.”

Anissa rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest “Grace it’s been half an hour and I’m getting cold just looking at you. You’re gonna get pneumonia. Please just come inside” holding the door wide open. Grace feels the heat in the coffee shop and can smell the aroma of fresh cookies. Her stomach growls loudly causing Anissa to release a small chuckle. “Coffee and cookies are on the house.”

Grace turns to look back up the street and still doesn’t see the bus anywhere. Grace sighs to herself “Fine.” She quickly runs into the shop, her whole body shivering as it welcomes the warm air. “Thanks again.”

“No problem.” Anissa replies back with her beaming smile. “I’ll go get you a towel and some warm clothes I’ll be right back.” Anissa goes to the back of the shop and once she’s out of sight Grace takes a look around. 

The coffee shop is filled with warm lighting making the place feel welcoming, and comfortable, like a home away from home. To her left there’s a few chairs facing towards and away from the windows, and as she looks out of said windows she watches as a couple of people are rushing about trying and failing to get out of the rain. A little further up and to the middle of the room there are some soft couches facing a open lit fireplace with a couple magazines on top of the coffee table in front of it. As you walk further in on the far right there is counter with a display case full of cookies, brownies, muffins, fruit bars, pies and much more. Behind the counter are the coffee machines, cups and all sorts of other things Grace doesn’t know that must help make the coffee. In the secluded back of the shop there’s a staircase leading up to bookshelves full of books and as if calling her name, – like a siren to a seaman –, Grace heads in that direction. She doesn’t get very far as her and Anissa collide holding tightly onto each other’s arms, not letting the other fall. “Sorry, I have got to start watching where I’m going.” Anissa chuckles lightly to herself. “Here’s that towel and a change of clothes I promised you and I hope they fit you. The bathroom is just down the hall.” Anissa points her thumb to her left and brushes past Grace to get behind the counter. Grace shivers again and isn't from the cold.

Grace holds up the towel and clothes while gritting her teeth “Thanks.” Anissa smiles and nods her head. “I like my coffee black, three sugars and chocolate chip cookies if the offer still stands.”

Anissa grabs her mop wiping up Grace’s trail of rain puddles “Of course. Coming right up.” Grace ducks her head down and walks to the bathroom. As the bathroom door shuts behind her, Grace takes a deep breath and leans against the sink. *‘Who does she think she is being all nice to me after what she’s done. As if she didn’t ruin my life that night. We were friends once. How could she betray me like that? I thought we had something. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I only saw what I wanted to see. Love really can make you blind.’* Grace shakes herself out of her thoughts, not wanting to go down the road again after already having to pick up the pieces of her own heart. She strips herself of her wet clothes and towels herself off. Once sufficiently dried off Grace puts on the borrowed clothes noticing that they’re the coffee shop uniform. They’re a little tight and the pants are a bit short, but overall not a bad fit. Beggars can’t be choosers, so Grace picks up her wet clothes, wrings them out in the sink and exits the bathroom heading back to the front of the coffee shop. “I put your bag closer to the fireplace so it can dry, if that’s alright? Did you want to sit on the couch? You can get warmer that way.” Anissa says as she hears Grace’s footsteps getting closer. 

“Yeah that’s fine. Do you have a bag I could put this in? My clothes are dripping all over your floors again.” Grace holds her clothes out in front of her body trying not to get wet, an occasional splash of water lands on her shoes.

“There’s actually a heater just over there by the those bookshelves. You can just drape your clothes over it. It’ll be in the second row.” Anissa points towards the second shelf with the coffee as she carries it over to the couch, setting the coffee and cookies on the table. As Anissa is doing that Grace finds the heater and drapes her clothes on top it. Evenly spreading it so it can dry faster, not wanting to be here any longer than she has to. Once finished she turns around to go back, but a title of a book catches her eye. Grace picks up the book with a small laugh as she thinks about the memories tied to it. “Did you find it?” Anissa shouts out in the quiet room. 

“Yeah I found it.” Grace replies back as she walks back carrying the book with her “Do you remember this?” Grace asks Anissa once she’s back in the room. 

Anissa looks up from behind the counter, and laughs when she sees the book Grace is holding in her hand “How can I forget? It’s how we met.” Anissa sighs wistfully “I can’t believe that was two years ago. Time flies.”

“Yeah it does.” Grace mumbles out with her head ducked down. An awkward silence falls over the shop with only the two of them currently inside. The sound of the rain hitting the windows and pavement outside and the crackling of the fire in the fireplace the only sound, in the otherwise still room. Grace strides to the couch, taking a drink of her hot coffee after blowing on it to occupy herself not wanting to face Anissa again so soon. Grace’s eyebrows shoot up as she asks “Is this the Colombia roast?”

“Yeah it is. It’s still your favorite right?” Anissa hesitantly asks. 

“Yeah it is. I can’t believe you remember.”

“I remember everything about you Grace.” Anissa whispers out, busying herself with checking her stock refusing to look Grace in the eye. 

Grace continues to drink her coffee choosing to ignore Anissa’s comment. Grace picks up the magazine on the table, thumbing through it, not really reading much of anything when she’s aware of Anissa’s presence behind her. Feeling Anissa’s eyes burning holes on the back of her head and doing everything she can to ignore the thick tension in the room. Seemingly having enough of the awkwardness between them, Anissa breaks the silence “What happened to us Grace? We use to be best friends and now I hardly ever see you anymore.” Anissa quietly murmurs. 

Grace scoffs “I think you know exactly why we aren’t friends anymore. Don’t play dumb.”

Anissa huffs out a breath in anger “I’m not playing dumb Grace. One day we were best friends and then the very next day you ghosted me. I did everything I could to talk to you, I called, texted, emailed, hell I even sent a letter, but you avoided me like I had the plague. What did I ever do to deserve you treating me like that?” Anissa says as she crosses the room standing behind the couch Grace is sitting on. 

Grace filled with anger shoots up from couch to face Anissa head on “You ruined my life! The one person I thought I could trust stabbed me in back!”

“I stabbed you in the back?! What in the hell are you talking about Grace! How could I have ruined your life?!”

“You kissed her.”

‘I kissed her’ Anissa mumbles to herself, but then her eyes widen in realization and goes around the couch to face Grace “It wasn’t what it looked like.” 

Grace scoffs and rounds the couch turning her back to Anissa “You kissed her and you knew how I felt about her. What she did to me. How could you do that? I trusted you.” 

“I swear to you Grace I didn’t kiss her. She kissed me. I pushed her away.” 

Grace whips around at that “It didn’t look like you were pushing her away. You looked like you were enjoying it.” 

Anissa throws her arms up in the air “I was in shock. I had no idea she was going to do that.” 

“You honestly expect me to believe that.” Grace says as she hugs her arms over her stomach. “After I saw... that I had to walk home to get seeing you two together out of my head and I completely forgot to call my mom. It was getting late, she went out looking for me and she…” Grace sobs out “...she ended up in a car accident. Drunk driver put her in a coma. I’ve been taking the bus to see her ever since. She doesn’t have a lot of time left. I have to start thinking about taking her off life support.” 

Anissa goes to reach out to comfort Grace, but thinks better of it and her arms fall to her sides. She sighs heavily, with her head hanging low “Grace I-” Anissa chokes up “I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you tell me?” 

Grace aggressively wipes her tears from her eyes even as more takes it place “Because after I saw you and her together I was so angry. I still am. I blame you for what happened and after that I had to drop out of school to pay for the medical bills. The bank is going to foreclosure on our house and I’ll have to live on the streets.” 

Anissa’s head shoots up “Grace you can stay with us I’m sure my dad will-”

“I don’t want your pity or your charity. I’ll be fine on my own.” Grace looks out the window and sees that the rain has stopped “I should go, before it starts raining again”. Grace hurriedly grabs her clothes from the heater, rushes to the bathroom nearly ripping the borrowed clothes trying to get it off. Not caring if her own clothes are wet, she puts them on and runs back out to the front, grabs her bag and heads to the door. Halfway pushing the front door open Grace stops when she feels a hand on her arm. “What do you want Anissa?” Grace asks out of breath. 

“Just let me explain.”

“There’s nothing left to say.” Grace yanks her arm out of Anissa’s grasp and pushes all the way out the door. She makes it halfway down the street, but stops when she hears a desperate cry of her name. Turning around to the voice, she sees Anissa running towards her and she comes to a stop a couple feet in front of her. 

“If I had known you went through all of that I would have been there. You’re my best friend and I didn’t know you were in so much pain Grace. You never even gave me the chance to plead my side. You just believed what you saw without asking me first. To trust me. I thought you knew me better than that? I thought you trusted me?” A few raindrops fall on Anissa’s head, but she keeps going “You only saw what you believed to be true. She completely caught me by surprise and as soon as I got my bearings I pushed her away. I even slapped her.” Getting close enough Anissa reaches out to Grace and breathes a sigh of relief when she isn’t brushed off. Holding tightly to her hands she continues, “I’m so sorry about what happened with your mom, but you and I know both know that wasn’t my fault. I’m not losing you again because of some stupid misunderstanding.” By the time Anissa is finished the rain has changed into a light shower, soaking them both head to toe. 

“I thought I did. I don’t know anymore. Why were you with her in the first place?”

“We worked on that Biology project remember. I was bitching about it the whole time we were working together.” Anissa hesitates “Do you not trust me anymore? Did you ever trust me?”

“Of course I trust you. You’re my best friend.”

“Then why were so quick to throw away years worth of our friendship because you think you saw something?” 

Grace ducks her head down “It doesn’t matter anymore.” She whispers out. 

Grace pulls herself away from Anissa, and tries to leave, but she is yanked back by the hands as Anissa’s hold on her gets tighter “No, you don’t get to walk away. Tell me why you did it. I deserve to know the truth.” 

“Isn’t doesn’t matter anymore. You can’t change the past.”

“God damnit Grace! Just tell me!” Anissa shouts out into the empty street. 

“I’m in love you okay!” Anissa drops her hands in shock while Grace huffs out a breath and runs her hands through her wet hair “I’ve been in love with you since the moment I met you. And to watch you kiss her broke me. Or rather her kiss you.” Grace’s shoulders slump “You were the first person I ever fell in love with and I…” Grace chokes out. The rain is heavy again and with a defeated sigh, Grace taking Anissa silence for rejection, turns around to leave, but is forcefully turned back around into a bruising kiss. Grace’s eyes shoot open in shock not believing Anissa is kissing her. Quickly gaining her bearings she tugs Anissa by her hips so their bodies are pressed flush together and deepens the kiss. Only having had run out of air do they break apart. 

Anissa puts her forehead on Grace’s and with a smile she whispers out into the quiet night “You love me?”

Grace blushes, but looks straight into Anissa’s eyes “Yes. I love you Anissa.” Anissa’s smile broadens and tugs Grace by her hair into a longer deeper kiss. All tongue and teeth as they greedily kiss each other in the dark night. Breaking apart to get much needed air Grace says against Anissa’s lips “I need to hear you say it.” 

Anissa looks at Grace with pure love in her eyes “I love you too Grace. I always have.” Looking back at her with unbridled joy Grace kisses Anissa with everything she has. Feeling like she has to say this she pulls away from the kiss “I’m so sorry Anissa. I should’ve asked you about it and trusted you to tell me the truth.”

Anissa shakes her head “You were right, you can’t change the past. We obviously have a lot of talking to do, but right now all I want is for you to kiss me. Can you do that?” 

Grace laughs loudly “Try and stop me. I’m never letting you go. Never again”.

**Author's Note:**

> Drop a comment and tell me what you think.


End file.
